Portland-based contemporary artist David Schell’s exhibition “Current Surroundings” opened on Jan. 10, and is now on display for view in the Dengerink Administration Building Gallery. Mainly composed of oil, pumice and cold wax on solid birch panels, Schell’s art explores the ideas of how people react and respond to the spaces surrounding them.
Schell’s exhibition includes three pieces from his previous show titled, “intimate, intimate” previously shown in Portland’s Augen Gallery. A few select pieces, including “Interior Form (Night),” “A Brand New Shape” and “Periphery (2),” were given new perspectives in “Current Surroundings” through placement in both an entirely new location, and next to different artworks.
“[‘Current Surroundings’] was an opportunity to take these same ideas that I’ve been working with, put them in a new context and see how they played out in this new space,” Schell said.
(Rowan Segura/The VanCougar)
During the planning and installment of “Current Surroundings,” Schell had to consider the space he was working with. Compared to the more intimate Augen Gallery, WSU Vancouver’s Dengerink Gallery is an area for students to browse and pass through quickly, according to Schell.
“That was really interesting, this idea that [the artworks] could engage people in… a 5-second interaction, as opposed to a dedicated destination point…. This is the first time I thought about a space… [I thought] about the configurations, how the pieces went together, how they might engage with the wall or with one another from either side of the gallery space,” Schell said.
Many of Schell’s pieces in “Current Surroundings” seek to provoke interest in the viewer, and therefore display bright colors and abstract figures. In his piece “A Brand New Shape”, Schell explains the square-like form is meant to convey people’s relationship with their environment and how they navigate and take up the space surrounding them.
“I want the contours of my pieces to create that sense of variation and flux. The interior shape is meant to push out to the edges as it tries to find its place in the world,” Schell said. “This piece and the series as a whole is about the intimacy of looking, and it’s not meant to depict a recognizable form. But I sometimes look at it and can’t help but see the shape of the onesies my kids wore when they were very young. It’s a comparable simple shape that vaguely intimates a human form.”
Graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Schell says one of the biggest takeaways he gained from his education was to stay curious. He encourages other artists to do the same by trying new techniques and developing their own creative voice in the process.
“Painters should try sculpting, photographers should do performance art and everybody should try to combine materials and techniques… that overarching idea [had a big impact] on me. I think about it a lot when I’m in my studio now, trying to figure out how my paintings keep wanting to be something other than pigment on a rectangle of canvas,” Schell said.
“Current Surroundings” is on display at WSU Vancouver’s Dengerink Gallery until March 11 and can also be viewed online here. Whether walking through the exhibition between classes, or purposefully stopping by for a little longer, viewers are certain to find themselves surrounded by artworks that urge them to take a second look.
Arabelle is a senior studying English at WSU Vancouver.